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Brom
Brom Holcombsson was a male human, a former Dragon Rider and one of the founders of the Varden. History Early life Brom came from a family of illuminators in Kuasta, a remote city near the Sea, far south of Carvahall. His mother was named Nelda and his father Holcomb. Kuasta was so isolated by the Spine that it became a peculiar place, full of strange customs and superstitions. When he was new to Ilirea (Urû'baen), for instance, Brom would knock on a door frame three times before entering or exiting a room. The other students laughed at these habits, so Brom eventually abandoned them. Friendship with Morzan During their tutelage under Oromis, Brom idolized Morzan, tagged after him, allowed Morzan to boss him around and always considered his actions to be admirable. Morzan often took advantage of Brom's unflagging admiration, making him "blind as a bat". Oromis considered separating them, but never did, which would cause Brom's anger to escalate even more during the later years. The Downfall During Galbatorix's rebellion and the subsequent downfall of the Riders, the Forsworn killed Brom's dragon, Saphira I, in Doru Araeba. Brom also lost his sword, Undbitr, during this time. Devastated by grief and loss of identity (due to the deep bond between dragon and Rider), Brom swore to take revenge on the person he blamed for his dragon's death and the destruction of his world: Morzan. He began to pursue and persecute his former idol even more intensely than he had idolized him in the first place. As Oromis once said "Brom's love for Morzan was given way to hate, like a candle before an inferno". He joined the elves at the Battle of Ilirea, only for them to lose to Galbatorix and the Forsworn. Recovery of the Egg .]] After the creation of the independent country of Surda, Brom used the turmoil to his advantage. He helped found the rebel group known as the Varden, gathering and merging various groups opposed to Galbatorix and the Empire. He led the Varden for a few years, and then surrendered the position to Weldon in order to pursue his true passion: Morzan's downfall. To help accomplish this objective, Brom worked as a gardener in Morzan's castle, having managed to find a weakness in the castle's wards. Brom was soon caught up in a romance with Selena, Morzan's personal agent, the Black Hand. They would meet whenever Morzan was away on a mission for Galbatorix, and Selena later bore Brom a son, Eragon, giving birth to him in Carvahall. Before he was aware of Eragon, Brom's fervor led him to a scholar named Jeod, who claimed to have discovered a passage into Urû'baen. Brom and Jeod organized the successful theft of one of the three remaining dragon eggs, all of which were in Galbatorix's possession. However, the thief, Hefring of Furnost, fled with the egg instead of bringing it to the Varden. Brom and Jeod raced against the Forsworn and Ra'zac for the egg, eventually coming to Gil'ead. The egg was eventually recovered by Brom(though he never found out why Hefring had only taken one); he said while talking to Jeod in Teirm that they found the egg in a storage room, but the thief hired to recover it, Hefring of Furnost, fled with the egg. Brom and Morzan hunted the thief, but Morzan was faster and killed Hefring, recovering the egg for Galbatorix. Brom personally killed Morzan, taking Saphira's egg and Morzan's sword Zar'roc into his keeping. However, Brom feared for Selena's life when Morzan asked if Brom was responsible for his agent's disappearance; he raced back to Morzan's castle but was too late, Selena had already died. From what he learned from the healers, he guessed that Selena was pregnant with his child. He then headed to her home town of Carvahall and saw his son, named Eragon, in the care of his uncle and aunt, Garrow and Marian. Brom was also responsible for the deaths of seven other Forsworn, three of whom he killed directly. He made sure that people thought he was dead, for Galbatorix would hunt him to the ends of Alagaësia if he thought Brom was still alive. He secretly returned to Farthen Dûr, meeting with Weldon's successor Deynor, and later negotiated exchanging the egg between the Varden and elves. He accompanied Arya to Ellesméra, where he met his former teachers Oromis and Glaedr for the last time, informing them of Eragon's existence and entrusted them with a fairth of Selena. It is possible that he was given the ring Aren from Islanzadí at this time, which he stored with every bit of energy he could muster over the years. A New Rider After seeing the egg safely delivered to the Varden, Brom went into hiding in the village of Carvahall, living in disguise as a storyteller, partly because he wished to watch over his son that Selena had given birth to at Carvahall, her hometown. Years afterward, when Eragon discovered a dragon egg that later hatched for him, Eragon asked Brom for suggestions of good names for dragons. The hatchling and Eragon later agreed on the name "Saphira", without understanding its significance. Saphira's existence put Eragon and his family in great danger from Galbatorix, who wished to reestablish the order of the Riders and bring them under his control. When Eragon's uncle Garrow was murdered by creatures called Ra'zac, Eragon and Saphira were forced to flee Carvahall and the Palancar Valley. Brom accompanied them on their quest to find and destroy the Ra'zac. Along the way, he educated Eragon in the use of the magical powers bestowed upon a Dragon Rider and the art of swordsmanship; he gave Eragon the sword Zar'roc, but refrained from telling him its history. In the town of Therinsford, Brom purchased two horses, Snowfire and Cadoc. In Yazuac, Brom was wounded in an encounter with Urgals, and Eragon insisted that Brom ride Saphira, as she could protect him better than Snowfire could. Though Brom protested, insisting that no one should mount a dragon except its Rider, Saphira and Eragon persuaded him to accept the favor. A little afterward, Saphira put events together and discovered Brom had used magic earlier on, past Utgard, and told Eragon she thought he was a magician, not revealing that she knew he was a rider. In the port city of Teirm, Eragon shamefully revealed that he was illiterate. Brom consequently took it upon himself to teach Eragon to read. Though Eragon learned remarkably quickly, their plans were still delayed by a week. Later, when they discovered Urgals close to where they were camped, they fled, Eragon on Saphira and Brom with Snowfire and Cadoc. When the Urgals nearly overtook Brom, Eragon had Saphira land in front of the Urgals, and after a brief confrontation with them, Eragon used a magical spell to blast them back. Eragon fainted from the effort, and while he was unconscious, Saphira protected him. Saphira and Brom then went to destroy the remaining Urgals. Around this time, Brom also revealed the fact that he was Eragon's father to Saphira, though he made her swear not to tell Eragon unless certain circumstances were met. Upon returning, Brom scolded Eragon for using such an energy-wasting attack on the Urgals when sending rocks through their heads would have been much easier. Brom's Death Brom and Eragon eventually found the Ra'zac, but were ambushed and forced to escape. Their escape attempt was unsuccessful and they were captured; however, a stranger named Murtagh rescued them. Unfortunately, one of the fleeing Ra'zac flung a dagger at Eragon. Brom sacrificed himself to save Eragon, jumping into the dagger's path. Unfortunately, the dagger went through his ribs. In passing, the other fleeing Ra'zac kicked Eragon in the ribs, breaking some of them. Unfortunately, the wound was fatal, and Brom soon died. But before dying, Brom revealed to Eragon that he was once a Dragon Rider himself, and that he was a one-time friend of Morzan before Morzan was corrupted by Galbatorix. Brom's own dragon, also named Saphira, was killed in the Battle at Doru Araeba. After revealing seven words in the Ancient Language, he died shortly afterward. And in Eragon, he even hinted that he was Eragon's father as right before he died he gave Eragon a blessing, something a father gives his son. Eragon created a tomb out of sandstone then used magic to carve these words on the side of the tomb: Here lies Brom Who was a Dragon Rider And like a father To me. May his name live on in glory. A day later, Saphira transformed Brom's sandstone grave to a diamond tomb, with her semi-passive magic, preserving his body through the ages. After Brom's death, Saphira said that Brom told her some secrets, including the location of Dormand, and the knowledge of Eragon's parentage (though the latter wasn't revealed until Oromis revealed Eragon's parentage first). Eragon resolved to one day visit his father's tomb and place wards around it so that no thieves would disturb it. Personality In his youth, Brom had some strange habits, such as knocking on a door frame three times before entering or exiting a room, which he abandoned as he grew older. He idolized Morzan and loved him like a brother. Morzan took advantage of Brom's affection for him by ordering him about and acting as though he was superior to Brom. Brom loved his Dragon Saphira, and her death caused him to go mad with grief. He grew to hate Morzan for betraying the Dragon Riders and causing the death of his beloved dragon; Brom's grief at the loss of Saphira continued until the end of his life. Brom was a very intelligent and strong minded man and claimed that only one person had beaten him in a battle of wills, and that was before he was fully grown. Brom believed than intelligence was more important than strength, and he defeated his opponents not because he was stronger, but because he was smarter. He was very adept at finding flaws in enemies defenses. Later in his life, Brom fell in love with Eragon's mother Selena. He loved her so much that he left his friends when he believed her life was in danger, leading his friends to think he was dead. He claimed that his fear for Selena's life gave him the strength and fortitude he needed to slay Morzan and his dragon. Oromis believed that losing Selena had been almost as hard for Brom as losing Saphira. Despite the hardships of his life, Brom remained pure of heart and was dedicated to bringing an end to Galbatorix's rule. While Brom was living in Carvahall, he disguised himself as a storyteller in order to hide from the Empire. He loved his son Eragon, but it wasn't until after he died that Eragon discovered the truth about his parentage. Brom was very secretive, keeping many things to himself, including his existence from his old friend Jeod for the better part of twenty years. Jeod also noted that he could be irritable at times. Other *Eragon and Saphira, who were shaken to hear that Murtagh was Morzan's son, later suspected that Brom came to Carvahall after Morzan's death in order to keep an eye on Eragon, so as to prevent the boy from becoming like his "father" (Murtagh's existence was kept secret from everyone except Galbatorix). This opinion changed after Eragon found out Brom was his father, not Morzan. *When Eragon, Saphira and Brom fled Carvahall, Brom expressed his gratitude that he lived to see the legend of the Dragon Riders reborn. *Saphira kept Eragon's real parents a secret from him, in fear that Eragon would grow to hate Brom and his mother Selena. *Brom had a white beard, silver hair, and always carried a staff. *Brom's exact age at death has not ben calculated by Christopher Paolini, but is estimated to be 110 to 130 years. *Book 4 will bring some discussion of the three people who could defeat Brom, although accoring to Paolini: " It’s only after the fall of the Riders that he became as formidable as he was.". *Brom was played by Academy Award-winning actor Jeremy Irons in the film version of Eragon. Though the film was heavily criticized, and Irons' looks were not completely book-accurate of Brom's, his portrayal was praised. *In interviews, Christopher Paolini has often expressed interest in telling the story of Brom and Jeod in a fifth, prequel, book of the Inheritance Cycle. Real-World Connections Comparison with "Star Wars" Brom can be compared to the Star Wars character "Obi-Wan Kenobi". Both of them were one of the last in their respective Orders (Obi-Wan, along with Yoda, being the last of the Jedi Knights, while Brom, along with Oromis, was the last of the Dragon Riders), and both moved near the protagonist's home (Obi-Wan moved to Tatooine, near Luke's uncle's farm, and Brom moved to Carvahall, near Garrow's farm, where Eragon spent his youth). He was also killed by one of the enemy (Obi-Wan by Darth Vader, Brom by the Ra'zac). In addition, Obi-Wan Kenobi was devastated when his apprentice and friend, Anakin Skywalker, turned to the dark side, as was Brom when Morzan betrayed the Riders. The main difference between the two characters was that Brom was the father of the protagonist, whereas Obi-Wan was not. Comparison with "The Lord of the Rings" Brom's description in the book (long white beard, hooked nose, carved staff, smoke pipe) can also be closely compared to "Gandalf" from The Lord of the Rings. His role was fairly similar to Gandalf as well: Brom left with the hero of the story, was a wise old wizardly character with magic, and died saving Eragon's life by jumping in front of a dagger thrown by one of the Ra'zac in the first book, just like Gandalf died the first time by protecting Frodo from the Balrog. 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